This is one of the ultimate breakfast board for a south Indian foodie with the most popular breakfast foods and topped with a rich and aromatic filter coffee! This breakfast board is a perfect idea for a festive breakfast or for a brunch. This is perfect when you want to wow your guests! Plus, this board has something special for all age groups and varieties for vegan guests too.
This breakfast board with traditional items on a typical menu is always a winner and would make anyone say "WOW"! Simple, comfort foods always make everything special when given in a different form! Say, when you have guests staying and you want to make something special for them or for a relaxed family weekend brunch, you might be searching for ideas. Well, the solution is always in your fridge! Yes, this post is about how you can make a delicious breakfast spread without tiring yourself!
Breakfast is the special meal for any day! When it is weekend or when you have guests over, you will want to make a wow breakfast. This week is all about different breakfast I am sharing for Blogging Marathon and to begin with this breakfast board is the apt one. This post is about how with the regular idli batter that we have in fridge and with a few other items, you can make an amazing spread!
With the all time savior idli/dosa batter, it is easy to make a delicious bread. Anything can be whipped up when you have this batter and I know you will quickly agree to it. It is like all in one! Well, what can you add to the board with the batter, well....
Idli - of course! No south Indian breakfast is complete if it doesn't have idlies! Idli are soft, gluten-free, steamed rice cakes. While making a few regular idlies, make some mini or baby idlies! The mini ones are sure to capture both the young ones as well as adults! Mini size is always beautiful. To attract the kids, stack 3 or 4 of mini idlies on a toothpick. This board has 4 regular idlies and 16 mini idlies. If you have millet based batter, that would be a good option too.
Dosa - The next avatar of the batter is in the thin pancake form. Make small crispy dosa and as well as mini bite sized dosas. This board had 4 small dosas and 16 mini dosas in four stacks on a toothpick. The bite sized dosas ca be made using a spoon of batter so that the size would be uniform. Well, presentation makes a lot of difference!
Oothappam - Well, the pancake version of the same batter doesn't end with dosa. Chop a little onion, carrots, and cilantro. Make oothappam topped with the veggie mix. Now, that makes it super special! four to six oothapams are a great quantity.
Kuzhipaniyaram - Soft, fluffy, cloud-like paniyarams are always a super hit. But when there is a time crunch, the dosa batter always saves the day. Add a little chopped onion, ginger, cilantro, and green chili to the batter and jazz it up to make special veggie paniyarams. If you plan well ahead of time, this traditional kuzhipaniyaram and this Sprouted Horsegram and Kale Paniyaram can be included on the menu. Tomato Kuzhipaniyaram would be a great choice to add to the menu.
Vada - Idli-vada or pongal-vada is a classic combo! The protein-rich medhuvada made with urad dal has soft interior and a crispy exterior. This is a crowd pleaser and will make any special indeed!
Rava Kichdi/Upma - This humble upma is our favorite. There are people who do not like it much, but this is easy to make and can be whipped up very quickly. I used half a cup of rava to make upma for this board. If you have Pesarattu Batter, then upma-pesarattu combo will be a hit!
Pongal - We love pongal. Again there are people who do not like it. But this taken in right quantity is always awesome! This is kind of risotto made with rice and healthy split yellow moong dal. In place of rice, Oats, or Millets can also be used. A half cup rice measurement to make pongal goes a long way.
Sarkarai Pongal - This traditional sweet version of pongal is the best beyond description of flavors. I wanted to feature a traditional sweet in this board and also my kids love it. Thinai Sarkarai pongal or any other millet can also be used. Rava Kesari is also another idea and is also quick and easy to make.
Poori - This deep fried whole wheat bread is everyone's favorite. Kids will go nuts over poori. Even a picky eater will be happy to have poori and when they see it on the board, it brings a smile on their face for sure. A cup of flour made into a dough makes 8-10 pooris, depending on the size you prefer.
Aloo Masala - Aloo masala is yum, and lip-smacking side made with potatoes and onions. This is a great side for poori and for dos too! A couple of extra poori goes inside the tummy when there is aloo masala. This is not so hard to make too. A two to three cups of aloo masala might be needed to serve this board based on people's liking.
Sambhar - Sambhar is a south Indian classic concoction of spices and veggies on a tamarind base with added cooked dal. This adds to the nourishment and is the best side to serve with idli, vada, pongal, and dosa. This Instant Pot Pasiparuppu Tiffin Sambhar is quick and easy to make. Any veggie on hand be used. Araichuvita sambhar will also taste divine with dosa. If you have sambhar lovers who like to have idli with a bucket sambhar (like how the comedy slang goes), make sure to have 3-4 cups of sambhar.
Chutneys - Coconut, mint/cilantro, peanut, and tomato chutney are best to serve for idli, dosa, or pongal. These chutneys also take less time to make. Half cup of each chutney should be more than enough to feed 8 people, since there are four different chutneys and sambhar is also served.
Fruits - A festive spread always starts with a fruit salad. Pazapachadi or fruit salad, or just a piece of banana is always served at the beginning. Add small pieces of fruits like banana, mango, jackfruit (this time got jackfruit at the right time), or any other fruit you have on a skewer which just jazzes up everything. I served the traditional mukkani (traditional trio of banana, mango, and jackfruit) to have a traditional touch. Any fruit works and kids would fruit skewers. Fruit Custard can also be made ahead and served in cups.
Coffee - Ah! A breakfast with special filter coffee makes the breakfast complete! Filter coffee works magic and instant coffee can also be made depending on taste preference. A special tea with ginger and cardamom would be my choice. Almond kheer, chocolate milk are great options to include based on kids age group. Fruit juices can also be included if preferred.
Time Management - When planned well, it is easy to pull off all these in an hour to and a half maximum. Nowadays we have Instant Pots and a couple of pressure cookers to make our lives easier with a busy pace of our crazy lives. With these gadgets, it is easier to start the pongal, cook aloo, and start sambhar in Instant Pot. When these get ready, poori dough can be kneaded, dal soaked/ground for vada. Vada batter can also be made ahead the previous day and refrigerated. Once the pongal is cooked, temper with seasonings for pongal, and start cooking idli, dosa, and kuzhipaniyaram, and vadas can be fried. Then finish making the chutneys.
With idli/dosa batter and a couple of extra items on the menu, it is easy to pull of an amazing meal, in fact, a feast! The idli/dosa batter easily makes four items on the menu. This board feeds easily 6-8 persons or even a couple more depending on their appetite. This board is an amazing way to elevate any meal and to keep it more traditional, I used a banana leaf as the board. Serving on banana leaf is special and adds a traditional touch. In case you do not have the leaf, use any big platter to arrange the food in an appealing way and just enjoy the special time with friends and family!
Vaishali Sabnani says
Wow ! That surely is an awesome breakfast ! All my favourite food together . I do not mind feasting on such a delicious breakfast.
Kudos for putting in so much effort ! 😍
Vaishali Sabnani says
Wow ! That surely is an awesome breakfast ! All my favourite food together . I do not mind feasting on such a delicious breakfast.
Kudos for putting in so much effort ! 😍
Srivalli says
Mind blowing spread and whats there not to love this...I would simply love to indulge in this again even though we make it so often!..excellent and kudos on the whole effort Radha, very nice...
Srivalli says
Mind blowing spread and whats there not to love this...I would simply love to indulge in this again even though we make it so often!..excellent and kudos on the whole effort Radha, very nice...
Srivalli says
Mind blowing spread and whats there not to love this...I would simply love to indulge in this again even though we make it so often!..excellent and kudos on the whole effort Radha, very nice...